Store-service apparatus



(No Model) 5 Sheet s-Sheet 1'.

E. L. GILES.

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

No. 414,152. Patented Oct. 29, 1889.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 E. L. GILES.

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS. V w No. 414,152. Patented Oct. 29, 1889.

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N. PETER Pholml-ilhoxrapbw, Washington Dc.

(No Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 8.

E. L. GILES.

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

Patented 001:. 29, 1889.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

E. L. GILES.

STORE- SERVIGE APPARATUS.

No. 414,152. Patented 00$. 29, 1889.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5. B. L. GILES.-

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

Patented Oct. 29

N. PSTERS. Phutou'hognpher, Wzvlvnpon. o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDlVIN L. GILES, OF LOXVELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 414,152, dated October29, 1889.

Application filed July 13, 1887. Serial No. 244,156. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN L. GILES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lowell, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, have in ventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Store-Service Apparatus, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to store-service apparatus-that is to say, tothat class of apparatus wherein a traveling carrier is supported by atrack formed by a taut wire stretched between distant points, or otherway, and over which the carrier travels as it is impelled, forced, orotherwise moved from station to station. In this class of devices, as iswell known, the track or way must be supported at such height above thefloor as to enable the carrier to be moved back and forth thereonwithout danger of striking the heads of attendants and other persons,For this reason it happens that the carrieris often located at suchheight as to take it out of easy reach of the attendant, exceptthelatter be provided with an elevated platform from which to gainaccess thereto. The use of a platform is exceedingly objectionable inthe large majority of cases, and hence it has been proposed in severaldevices to provide the apparatus with means whereby the carrier may belowered, (after it has reached and is stopped at its destination,) sothat it may be within easy reach of the attendant, from which loweredposition it is raised to the track, to be impelled or moved thereon toits other destination.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide astore-service track or way with means whereby one of its ends may belowered from a horizontal position, so as to incline the way bodily forits entire extent to bring the carrier temporarily within the reach ofthe attendant, and also to provide an apparatus employing acarrier-impelling device at one or both ends of the way with meanswhereby the carrier, upon its arrival at its destination say, forinstance, at the salesmans counter may be lowered within reach of suchsalesman without detaching the carrier from the way and the necessity ofchanging the continuity of the way, and, primarily, without affectingthe adjustment of the carrier-impelling device at such destination.

To this end the invention consists in a novel construction of parts andcombinations of devices, too fully hereinafter set forth to needpreliminary description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a practical embodiment of astructure containing the present improvements, in which- Figures 1 and 2represent by a side elevation the opposite ends of the improvedstoreservice apparatus. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing theway and carrier lowered. Figs. 4 and 5 represent a plan view of the saidopposite ends shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspectiveview of the carriage to which one end of the way is secured. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of the end of the carrier-frame. Fig. 8 is a sideelevation of a single way of a store-service apparatus upon a smallerscale, illustrating two positions of the way.

Referring to said drawings, it is to be understood that the track Tawirewayis shown stretched taut between two distant stations A B-say thesalesmans counter and the cashiers desk-in such manner that the car rierC may be impelled or moved thereover from one station to the other, andvice versa.

The novel features of a portion of the present invention are illustratedherein in connection with the station A, or the salesmans counter but itis to be understood that these features, particularly with regard to thelowering and elevating of the carrier, will, for reasons too well knownto those skilled in this art to need particularizing, be more generallyemployed at such station than at the other or the cashiers desk. Thesefeatures may, however, be employed at either or both ends, as theexigencies of their use may dietate, without modifying or departing fromthis invention. As shown, this end of the way is secured to a slidingcarriage D, suitably supported by a standard or bracket E, that may besecured to the ceiling or other place of the store or warehouse toprovide a guide for said carriage. The other end of the way may besimilarly supported, or, as shown, be fixedly secured to the wall orother support in any suitable manner.

ing and raising movements.

erated to permit it to be lowered.

Thedsliding. carriage D, with its end ofljthe wireway, is adapted to be,lowered from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3, andin full and dotted lines in Fig. 8, so as to incline the way bodily fromor near the point of its attachment at one end downward to its otherend, and thus the carrier will be brought into such position as to beaccessible to the at tendant. In order to keep the way T, when of Wire,taut, both when the carriage D is in its normal or horizontal as wellasin its lowered or inclined position, thesupporting standard or bracketE is inclined, as shown, or placed at such an angle with relation to thenormal position of the way as to the circle the movable end of the waywill .:tra"vel in being lowered and raised, the other or fixed end ofsuch way being the center from which said are is described. Thus, aswill be readily seen, the tautness of the way will be preserved ineither of its positions.

' The sliding carriage D (see Fig. 6) consists of -a skeleton framesurrounding the supporting-standard and sustaining at the rear of the-latter anti-friction wheels 13, which conform "toth'e shape of thatportion of the standard over which they travel and bear against it andproperly guide the carriage in its lower- The carriage may be sustainedin its normal position by any suitable device that can be readily op-One such device answering the requirements of its use is illustrated.Itconsis'ts of a bell-crank lever L, of bifurcated or duplex form,straddling the standard and pivoted at 14 to the sides of the carriage,its bifurcated arms 15 being adapted to engage a tongue-piece 16,projecting from the rear of the standard to hold the carriageinposition. Said arms 15,after passing the pivot 14, become united in asingle arm -17, moving in arecess 18 in the carriage, form ,a meansforlimiting the movement of the lever,'and on which a spring 19 may operateto cause the opposite end of the lever to auto- -matically catch thetongue when the carriage is raised to its normal position and fixedlyhold it in such position.

The carriage and itsend of the way may be raised by a cord a, secured tothe carriage and simply passing over, a pulley 20, down within reach ofthe attendant, and it may be lowered by tripping the leverL fromengagement with the tongue .16 by means of a cord Z), attached at 9 tosaid lever and also extending Within reach of the attendant. Thislowering movement of the carriage may be effected after the lever istripped by making it heavy enough to fall to its lower position bygravity. If the way be stretched so taut that this result will not 00-cuiyit may be pulled positively downward, orjbe aided in such movementby, a spring} The catch in some cases may be omitted-.en

tirely and the end'of the way supported in its horizontal position by a-weight, and it may be held down by a catch against said weight, whichcatch may be tripped to permit the weight to returnfthe way to itsnormal position.

The carrier-impelling device II may consist of any of the well-knownforms, which in practice must bear such relation to the way.

that it will always be-in position to act upon the carrier as soon as itarrives at its destina= tion.

In apparatus heretofore employing a way the end of which was capable ofbeing lowered and raised with the carrier, the way was raised to such'anextent above the'normal position thereof as to impart either asufficient initial gravitating movement to the carrier to cause it totravel to its destinationor to so incline the way .its entire extent asto cause the carrier to travel by gravity to the end thereof, or untilotherwise stopped.

NVith the means for inclining the way above described the presentinvention embraces means whereby thechange of position of the way willnot affect the location of the impelling device with relation theretonor affect the carrier-stop, the catch, or the. tripping device.

The impelling device herein shown consists of a spring 21, against thetension of which the carrier 0 is drawn until it is suddenly justed asit becomes necessary totchangethe force of the impelling-spring 21, aswill be readily understood. In order now to permit the impelling deviceto accommodate itself to the change of position of the Way and topreserve the normal tension of the spring 21, one end of said spring, asshown in said application, being connected by a cord 0 to the slide 10,carrying the catch 3, its opposite end, however, instead of beingsecured to a fixed point, or to a cord, in some instance, extending downwithin reach of the attendant, as in the patent to Robert A. Mc- Cart-y,No. 325,425, is connected by a cord d to the end of the way, or, asshown, to the carriage D in such manner that in the lowering movement ofthe latter the spring 21 orimpelling device will be permitted to followsuch movement Without in any manner affecting the tension of said springor its capacity to propel the carrier in the inclined position of theway, should it be desired to do so, and that when the carriageway and'sition, ready to force the carrier forward by drawing upon the cord e,as set forthin the aforesaid application, which cord is attached to theslide 10 and passed over a pulley 23, supported by the carriage D, anddownward within reach of the attendant. The horizontal arm 24-, havingits forward end bifurcated, as common, to guide the cord 0, is supportedin a stationary position from the standard E, but may, if desired, bemounted on the carriage D to move therewith. The connection between thespring 21 and carriage D in the present instance is maintained byattaching one end of the cord (Z to the lower side of the carriage, andthence passing it under a pulley 27 and over a pulley 2G to the spring.

The opposite end B of the way, represent ing, say, the cashiers desk, isprovided with animpelling device H, similar to that just described,although its use is not essential, as any other means for causing thecarrier to move over the way from such point may be employed in lieuthereof. This end B of the way, as shown, consists of a horizontal bar30,.supported by brackets F, projecting from the ceiling or other point,and is adapted to sustain one or more arms 31, having an adjustable endpiece 32, which may be arranged at such angle to the arm as tocorrespond with the direction of the way through which and a short postit is passed to be securely fixed and braced to the wall or othersuitable support. I11 passing the adjustable end piece or the post theway may also be secured thereto. The post supports the horizontal arm3i, having its opposite end bifurcated to support the smallguide-pulleys 7 for the cord 0 of the impelling device. Near itsbifurcated end the arm is provided with a collar 35, adj ustably securedthereto, to which is pivoted one end of a brace-bar 36, that extendsupward and through a swiveled and adj ustably-mounted collar 37,sustained by a cross-bar 38, extending between the two brackets F, Thishorizontal arm 34 also supports the stop 8, to which it is adjustablysecured, which, like its duplicate at the opposite end of the way,operates to trip the carrier from the impelling device and cause it tobe released therefrom as it is forced forward. Thus it will be seen thatthe operating parts of the impelling device and its support may beadjusted with great nicety to suit the many varying conditions whicharise in adapting the apparatus to different locations. In this class ofimpelling devices it has been customary to join the two divisions of thecord 0 together at or near the point of attachment with the spring 21.In so doing the said divisions extended from the guidepulley 7 in eachend (if the bifurcation of the arm Sat or 2i at an angle to the movementof the spring, so that the tendency of the cord was to become boundbetween pulley 7 and its supporting side pieces, or to slip from off thepulley. To overcome this defective workin g, there is provided ayoke-piece 39, secured to the spring 21, to the extending ends of whichthe two divisions of the cord are socured,thus extending and guidingthem in a right line from the guide-pulleys to their point of attachmentwith the sprin When a slide 10 is employed, a similar yoke-piece 40 maybe provided for it, and the opposite ends of the cord likewise securedto it, as shown.

The hook formed on the ends of the carrier for holding it at itsdestination, as heretofore provided, have not been wholly effectual inpreventing the accidental disconnection thereof with the holding deviceor catch during any undue swaying movement of the carrier, and hence isliable to and does cause considerable annoyance and delay when itoccurs. To obviate this, the hooked ends 6 of the carrier are extendedadistance beyond the sides of the carrier-frame, as shown in Fig. 7, andto such an extent that no swaying movement within one hundred and eightydegrees of a circle will endanger its accidental disconnection from theretaining-catch The means herein describedfor retaining the carriage andthe way in its horizontal position and lowered to the inclined positionmay be varied within wide limits. So, too, the fixed end of the way,while being fixed, so far as the end that is moved to incline the way isconcerned, might obviously be provided with means for inclining it fromthat end, in which case, of course, when said end is ad justed the otherend would remain in its fixed position. In other words, both ends of theway may be provided with means for adj usting it at either end from ahorizontal position to an inclined position.

Instead of employing the particular means, such as the connecting-cordbetween the carriage and impelling device, for the purposes hereindescribed, it is obvious that the upper end of the impelling devicemaybe connected to an extension of the carriage D, so that they both movebodily together when the position of the way is adjusted.

Many other changes-such as the employ m ent of a different impellingdevice from that taken for illustration-may be made by an ordinarymechanic without departing from the scope of this invention Suitablebuffers 2' may be interposed be tween the contacting portions of theapparatus to limit the movements thereof and to lessen the noise in itsadjustments.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination of a straight way, a carriersupported thereon, a propelling device movable in a line parallel to theway and supported in a position above and connected with the way, andmeans for raising and lowering the end of the way, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination of away, a carrier supported thereon, a propellingdevice supported above the way and provided with a slide mounted on theway, and means for raising and lowering the end of the way,substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the standard, a

carriage adj ustably mounted thereon and supporting one end of a Way, ofa carrier-impelling device located at that end of the way, and aconnection,such as the cord d, between the carriage and the impellingdevice to cause the latter to adjust itself when the position of thecarriage is adjusted, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a way, an adjustably-mounted carriage supportingone end of the way, an impelling device, also connected to saidcarriage, and a slide 10, connected to the impelling device and adaptedto move with the adjusting movement of the carriage, substantially asdescribed.

5. The combination of a Way, an adjustably-mounted carriage supportingone end of the way, an impelling device, also connected to saidcarriage, and a slide 10, connected to the impelling device and mountedon the way, to move therewith in the adjusting movement of the carriage,substantially as described.

6. The combination of a way, a support, a carriage adj ustablymountedthereon and carrying one end of the way, a rod, as 22, car-.

ried by said carriage, and a stop adjustably mounted on said rod,substantially as described.

7. The combination of a way, a support, an arm 24, mounted on saidsupport, a carriage adjustably mounted on the support and carrying oneend of the Way, a stop, as 8, also carried by said carriage, and acarrier-impelling device, substantially as described.

8. The combination of a standard, a way, a carriage mounted on thestandard and sup- I porting one end of the Way, and a bifurcatedlever-catch pivoted to the carriage and adapted to straddle thestandard, substantially as described.

9. The combination of away, a bracket, an arm, as 31, supported therebyand having a pivoted end piece to which one end of the way is secured,an impelling device, the horizontal arm 34, providing a guide for oneportion of said device and adjustably connected to said arm 31, and theadjustable brace-bar 36, substantiallyas described.

10. The combination of a Way, a bracket for supporting one end thereof,an impelling device, the horizontal arm 34 and pivoted brace-bar 36, andthe adjustable supports 35 37, substantially as described.

11. The combination of the pulleys '7, slide 10, propelling-cord, andthe yokes 39 4:0, substantially as described.

12,. The combination of a Way, a carrier supported thereby,propelling-cord O, a propelling-spring, and a yoke 39, connecting thecords to the spring, substantially as described. 13. The combination ofthe pulleys 7, propelling-cords passing thereover, a propellingspring,and a yoke 39, connecting the ends of the cords to the spring,substantially as described.

In testimony Whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWIN L. GILES. Witnesses:

E. F. ENDIOOTT, J. G. RUSSELL.

